Information Technology (IT) management is a combination of IT and management which is the management of computer-based information systems. The reason why IT needs to be managed stems from the continuous growth in IT systems. Initially, when networking began, typically individual computers were coupled to a computer which was serving data. This computer serving data was usually set up and controlled by a single person. Therefore, considering the entire system included one person and one computer, little management was needed.
However, with the incredible growth of the Internet, companies, in addition to academia, the government and individuals, began utilizing the Internet for more complex tasks. Again, at first, it was possible for a company to set up a static website which required little computing power and resources. With the advent of e-commerce and other advances in the Internet, companies moved on to interactive websites which allow users to send, store and manipulate data on a company's website. Additionally, the uptime requirements for websites increased considering downtime equaled lost revenue. For instance, a major website being down for a few minutes could result in millions of dollars in lost revenues, not to mention user dissatisfaction. Moreover, in some instances, data needs to be very secure, such as customers' credit card information or employment information.
Therefore, to confront all of these new requirements of content, stability and security, the complexity of IT management has grown significantly. Unlike the early days of networking when computing systems were small, possibly even one computer, present IT systems comprise many hardware and software components which are very interconnected. A typical IT system today is likely to include many servers, many backup devices, one or more firewalls for security, other networking components such as routers and hubs and a huge amount of software applications which are used in many tasks ranging from accessing, storing, manipulating and securing data. To manage the complex IT systems of today and in the future, IT management has to continuously evolve and adapt, so that these systems remain manageable.